Open round | 10 points | 74.42% | Problem statement | Official solution | Tags: Writing system
A1 can be done just by looking at the shorthands and finding the ones with the matching Latin letters. Once this is done, let's line up the shorthands with their full text:
Thus we have:
9, ī, and presumably ū, can stand for different ending nasals, which depends on the next consonant. The nasal assimilates in place, so for example 9p is "comp" but 9t is "cont".
Now in A2:
a. 9probatum = comprobatum
b. cōprobatū = comprobatum
c. compᴼbatum = comprobatum
d. 9probat⁹ = comprobatus
e. 9probatū = comprobatum
In A3, looking up our cipher, we see that 7 = et.
In A4:
a. procatis = 𝓹catis = 17 2 1 14 6 13
b. notarum = nota4 = 9 10 14 1 18
c. decernimus = dec⁹nī⁹ = 3 4 2 22 9 7 22
d. congnitio = 9gniᴼ = 21 5 9 6 11
e. crux = cᵘx = 2 15 16 (where did we ever see ᵘ?)
f. petitur = p7i² = 12 20 6 19
The remaining letters are: a, c, d, e, l, n. They assemble to "candle". "Thank you," says the Medieval monk.